Homeworld: Chain Reactions
by Unknown Hacker
Summary: A lone Corvette on the outskirts of known space encounters what might be more powerful than the beast. Can the sudden reappearance of an old friend help save her crew and destroy the Ki'ilia menace?


AN: For my purposes, the Interceptors have 2 pilots each. Homeworld Cataclysm technology will be used, but not until later.  
  
Deep in the cold regions of space, a captain observed the movements of her crew. They were used to their jobs, which, with the end of the Kuushan- Taiidan war, were over. Now, her once proud Heavy Corvette, Sentry's Lookout, had been relocated to the cargo supply.  
  
"Sensors to Bridge. Unidentified contact at point oh-oh-five, it has responded to our haling calls." Commodore Angel Hargraves grimaced. A derelict ship so far out? Not to mention everyone knew that corvette sensors couldn't even track a destroyer on a good day. Could the Taiidan be launching a trap? "Bridge to Communications. Contact Admiralty about the unknown contact. Tell them we await orders regarding this new situation." They didn't have long to wait. "Comms to Bridge. Ma'am, Admiral Gary Shukov is on hold." Angel nodded. "Patch him through to the bridge." A hologram of the Admiral appeared. "Angel, I hope you have a good reason for separating me from the Deathmatch games.." The crew suppressed a chuckle. The Admiral was well renowned for his love of any game which involved body parts, big guns and death. "Sir, we have detected a derelict vessel. Scans indicate to have been disabled, and we request fighter support to check out the place, sir." The Admiral grew stern. "Be careful, Commodore. We have had reports of the Taiidan using such a ploy to lure our ships in. Guerrilla tactics, for want of a better term. Fighter support will be in the form of two Interceptors. If we can defeat Taiidan here, they may think twice about doing anything else." Angel drew a deep breath and asked, "Sir I request one extra Defender to accompany us. The Interceptors will be taxed enough, and a Defender could share their workload more evenly." The Admiral looked thoughtful. Finally, he said, "Investigate the site. Proceed with extreme caution. Fighter support will be arriving in approximately 15 minutes. Shukov out." With that, the image blurred. Commodore Angel grimaced. "All stations, Yellow Alert."  
  
Throughout the ship, mechanics checked the ship all over, verifying that everything still worked. It had been quite a while since they needed to use the Fire Control suite, and they checked it carefully. If the situation arose, they could not afford the loss of one of their two cannons. Within minutes, two Class III Interceptors shot pass them, turned and gave the heavy corvette a display of fighter jock ego. A Defender appeared shortly after and chuckles could be heard from the four Interceptor pilots. They flew at the Defender, until Angel's voice cut through the cacophony. "Interceptor pilots take point. Defender, stay with me." A softer voice, male, took up the chatter. "Defender is taking point." Angel's second-in-command was surprised. "That doesn't look like a Defender. It doesn't have the third set of weapon pods." "Scanning complete," the ship's computer intoned. "Mark IV Acolyte. Level 3 equipment. Secondary armament, Two ACP Mk II missiles." The whole crew held their breath. The Acolytes came from the Kuun-Lan, a Heroic ship of the recent Beast Wars. Only elite personnel, had level 3 technology. And those ACP...they were rare too. "Sentry's Lookout to unknown Acolyte. Identify yourself." A soft chuckle and a gulp from the Interceptor pilots was heard, as they realized the "Defender" outgunned, and outmaneuvered the Interceptors. "This is Commander David Hunt of the Acolyte. I will transfer command to Commodore Angel here, and will take point. David out."  
  
Angel slumped in her chair. Obviously she was stunned. Most of the bridge looked at her in surprise. She tapped her comms. "Bridge to Communication. Get me the file on David Hunt, and display." "Communication copies."  
  
Before she could read the report, the computer sent the corvette veering straight down. Two missiles streaked past just where Sentry's Lookout had been before. Personnel were scattered about, but quickly picked themselves up and strapped themselves in. "Fire Control, get me a shot vector!" "Understood, ma'am." The Corvette fired her powerful engines and gunned them towards the position. There she saw a squadron of Taiidan Interceptors. Angel brought up the screen. Her interceptors riding escort, and preparing to engage, but where had that Acolyte gone? Her answer was an engine trail and furious explosions. From the hurtling debris that the Sentry's shielding disintegrated, came the twisting and winding Acolyte and a Taiidan Interceptor, firing furiously. The crew looked on in awe. David seemed to turn a deathmatch into a dance. His Acolyte weaved through the barrage of flak and flipped over. Stopping, it looped about and targeted the Interceptor. The heavy armour did it no good. David's own cannons made short work. The small fighter retracted the weapon pods, then settled into an escort position just above the bridge. On board the Acolyte, David grinned. Of course he remembered Angel. Oh, there would be hell waiting for him as soon as he boarded the craft. His upgraded sensor suite detected no further hostiles in the area, and he entered the Sentry's docking bay. Corvettes never had any docking bays, but since Sentry was a cargo ship, extra space had to be made. So he parked there. As he climbed down the ladder, a something metallic was shoved into his back and a gruff voice, female, said, "Hands where I can see 'em." David vaulted the Acolyte before Angel could do anything, and lashed out with his foot. It connected with Angel's stomach and she staggered a few paces back before flying at him. The two clashed together, never before a greater test of willpower and strength. On the sentry, a betting pool had begun. They knew their Captain wouldn't object, as she herself had betted once or twice. Right now, the odds were 5 to 1 in favour of Angel's win against David. On and on the fight continued. Angel looked the worse for wear, a shirt torn near her midsection, and her lapel was missing. David on the other hand, barely received a scratch, but his cheek was red from a slap. Without warning, Angel began a series of punches that would end in her kicking David on the head, knocking him out. He grinned. Times had changed, too old for Angel to remember, but David had been back to the Academy. He grabbed her foot and stabbed her in the solar plexus. She collapsed. From within the bridge, huge groan was heard. Most of the people had lost their money, but one lucky ensign now had a wallet the size of any average banker who used Cital Banks Corp.  
  
Hoisting her onto his shoulder, he made his way to the bridge. As he entered, the bridge staff stared at the scene and the ensign in question took a holoshot of them. The junior members quickly rushed over to place orders on the replicator for copies of the photos. Angel awoke, and found herself in her cabin. On the floor, lying next to her sacred set of anime plushies, was David himself, sprawled out, covered by a blanket, which, she realized, was his OLD security 'blankie.' She grinned. He still had that stupid blanket with him? Also next to him was his old stuffed panda. The retard!  
  
Many hours later 


End file.
